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Duplicate Annihilator

Download documentation

Demo movie

More help

Q: How do I delete an image from an album or smart album in iPhoto so that it is also deleted from the main Photos Library?

That is easy, simply select the images you like to delete and use the key combination option+command+backspace to delete them.

Q: I went online and bought the program. I opened the program on my computer, but it gives me the same message of "we can only perform this operation for the first 500 photos". Do I have to download it again to make it work right or what?

This is what you should do:

Open Duplicate Annihilator

Click on the register tab

Fill out the form with your serial number and email address

Click on the register button

Now your copy of Duplicate Annihilator is unlocked and fully functional.

Q: What about missing photos?

iPhoto contains two things: a data base with information about you photos and a file structure with your photos. A missing photo is when there is a reference to specific file path in the data base and that file does not exist. We just show that there are missing photos to make you aware of it. The paths to the missing files are logged in the Duplicate Annihilator debug log file located in your home folder.

Q: What about thumbnails?

Thumbnails are low resolution photos used internally by iPhoto to speed up performance when growing the photos. However, sometimes when importing older libraries into new ones or when upgrading iPhoto those internal low resolution photos are imported as regular photos and all of a sudden your iPhoto Library is flooded with low resolution photos. Those you want to get rid of and they are marked with the description "thumbnail" and can easily be deleted the same way as the duplicates.

Q: Where is Thumbnail Annihilator, I can't find it?

Thumbnail Annihilator is included in the Duplicate Annihilator package that you can download from this site. In Duplicate Annihilator v4.x Thumbnail Annihilator is integrated.

Q: I have entered my serial number but Duplicate Annihilator fails to register. Why?

By default Duplicate Annihilator tries to validate your serial number online so you need to have internet access. If you do not have internet access please contact us and we will help you to solve this.

Q: I have entered my serial number but Duplicate Annihilator says that it is invalid. Why?

Make sure that you don’t mix up the characters I and O with the numbers 1 and 0 and vice versa.

Q: What happens if I cancel before DA finishes? Will the duplicates DA found be commented?

The duplicates are marked on the fly so every duplicate found so far will be marked and ready for deletion.

This is mostly caused by a defective iPhoto Library. Try to rebuild your iPhoto Library simply by holding down the option and command keys while starting iPhoto. Then try to run Duplicate Annihilator again.

Q: Which detection algorithm should I use?

By default Duplicate Annihilator uses the MD5 digital checksum algorithm which is a quick and effective method to detect duplicates. If a duplicate has been modified in any way the duplicate will render a different digital checksum and will there for not be detected as a duplicate.

Q: I have used the MD5 algorithm but Duplicate Annihilator failed to detect all the duplicates.

Sometimes there are what-seems-to-be-duplicates left in your iPhoto Library. The most probably cause is that the images are slightly modified in some way. Try to use the compare-tab in Duplicate Annihilator to try out new combinations of detection algorithms that suites your needs. A popular combination of detection algorithms is the Exif creation date and First XX characters of filenames.

Q: I have selected all the detection algorithms and Duplicate Annihilator does not find a single duplicate.

Don’t select all the algorithms. Selecting multiple detection algorithms will cause those to be combined in to a single search for each image. Multiple algorithms will narrow the search result and will result in fewer found duplicates. Multiple algorithms will also cause the detection process to run much slower since more meta-data has to be collected from each image.

Q: I have used the default preferences in Duplicate Annihilator and it says that it found XXXX duplicates but the iPhoto Library seems to be intact.

That is correct by default Duplicate Annihilator does NOT delete the found duplicates but sets the comments field of the found duplicates to ”duplicate”. You may then locate those duplicates in iPhoto simply by using the search field in iPhoto and search for the word ”duplicate”.

Q: Duplicate Annihilator says that it found 1000 duplicates but only 500 images were marked/deleted in iPhoto.

This is mostly caused by iPhoto that sometimes makes a timeout and throws away instructions. First of all, try to rebuild your iPhoto Library by holding down the option and command keys while starting iPhoto. This will cause iPhoto to run smoother and faster. If you are using the ”move duplicates to trash” option you may try to use the ”set duplicates’ comments to duplicate” option instead since iPhoto seems to perform better when setting comment than when moving images to the iPhoto trash.

Q: When running Duplicate Annihilator in Magic Mode I got many false duplicates, what shuld I do?

Magic Mode attempts to use the Exif Creation Date detection algorithm to compare images. The Exif Creation Date is the date and time stored by the camera within the meta data of the images files when taking the picture. The Exif creation date is usually a very effective way to detect duplicates. However, if you have managed to take a series of shots within the same second there will be false positives.

There are a few applications that causes programs made in XCode (like Duplicate Annihilator) to crash with a NSReceiverEvaluationScriptError: 4 (1). A few examples of those programs are SIMBL and Megazoomer, both those applications seems to affect the system in such a way that other applications crashes. Try to run Duplicate Annihilator on a fresh test account on you mac.

Q: Duplicate Annihilator causes iPhoto to crash, why?

There are three known reasons:

Your iPhoto library data base might be damaged. Try to rebuild it by holding down the option and command keys while starting iPhoto.

If you are running iPhoto of a pre 6.0.6 version you should consider to upgrade it since iPhoto version prior to 6.0.6 could crash when encountering a damaged image such as bad or unusual EXIF-data. Read more about it here: Apple support pages

When iPhoto is called upon by a third party application like Duplicate Annihilator it crashes. Meanwhile if you run the same version of iPhoto and Duplicate Annihilator on another user account on the very same computer the iPhoto does not crash. You may even copy the entire iPhoto library folder to the other users account and run Duplicate Annihilator with no problems. This leads to the conclusion that there is something wrong with some kind of user related iPhoto settings file but it is unknown which and in what way. There are however several reports that users of iLife'06 solved their problems by upgrading to iLife'08. It's also possible to solve the problem by copying the iPhoto library to a fresh user account, run Duplicate Annihilator and copy the iPhoto library folder back to the original user account.

According to this Apple support document you will need free space on your startup disk (usually "Macintosh HD") equal to the size of the current iPhoto Library in order to perform the rebuild. Otherwise the rebuild will not complete. Most of the times the rebuild option seems to work anyway but if not take this into consideration.

Q: My library is full of thumbnails that I accidentally imported can I get rid of those?

Yes, use the application Thumbnail Annihilator bundled with Duplicate Annihilator.

Q: I would like to compare my duplicates before deleting, is that possible?

It is possible to compare duplicates with originals using a bit of iPhoto features. Set Duplicate Annihilator to mark both the found duplicates and the associated originals and then try this little iPhoto magic:

Search for "original" in iPhoto, set the flag (or a keyword) on those images

Create a smart album that lists images based on description and make sure that it lists both the originals and the duplicates

You will now have an album with the duplicates next to the corresponding originals and the originals are easy to identify by the flag (or keyword).

All found duplicates will now have their comments set to "duplicate" the comment can be seen when selecting an image and clicking the (i)-button in the lower left corner of the iPhoto interface. All duplicates can also be located by using the search-bar in the iPhoto interface and serch for the word "duplicate". The duplicate comment will be followed by a paranthesis with a number this number corresponds to the original so if you find a image with the comment "duplicate (123)" then you can also locate the original by searching for "original (123)". This way you can make sure that Duplicate Annihilator worked as it should.

Q: Do I have to pay for future updates of Duplicate Annihilator?

No, upgrades are free of charge, even for major upgrades.

Q: We are an organization, school, workplace etc. and we would like to get a volume discount. is that possible?

Duplicate Annihilator – Aperture Edition

Download documentation

Demo movie

More help

Q: I went online and bought the program. I opened the program on my computer, but it gives me the same message of "we can only perform this operation for the first 500 photos". Do I have to download it again to make it work right or what?

By default Duplicate Annihilator – Aperture Edition tries to validate your serial number online so you need to have Internet access. If you do not have Internet access please contact us and we will help you to solve this.

Q: Which detection algorithm should I use in Classic Mode?

By default Duplicate Annihilator – Aperture Edition uses the MD5 digital checksum algorithm which is a quick and effective method to detect duplicates. If a duplicate has been modified in any way the duplicate will render a different digital checksum and will therefore not be detected as a duplicate.

Q: I have used the MD5 algorithm but Duplicate Annihilator – Aperture Edition failed to detect all the duplicates. What should I do?

Sometimes there are what-seems-to-be-duplicates left in your iPhoto Library. The most probably cause is that the images are slightly modified in some way. A popular combination of detection algorithms is the Exif creation date combined with First XX characters of filenames.

Q: I have selected all the detection algorithms and Duplicate Annihilator – Aperture Edition does not find a single duplicate. What went wrong?

Don’t select all the algorithms. Selecting multiple detection algorithms will cause those to be combined in to a single search for each image. Multiple algorithms will narrow the search result and will result in fewer found duplicates. Multiple algorithms will also cause the detection process to run much slower since more meta data has to be collected from each image.

Q: I have used the default preferences in Duplicate Annihilator – Aperture Edition and it says that it found XXXX duplicates but the Aperture Library seems to be intact. Why?

That is correct, Duplicate Annihilator – Aperture Edition does NOT delete the found duplicates but assigns a keyword to them. You may then locate those duplicates in Aperture simply by using the search field in Aperture and search for the keyword ”duplicate”.

Q: Do I have to pay for future updates of Duplicate Annihilator – Aper- ture Edition?

No, upgrades are free of charge, even for major upgrades.

Q: We are an organization, school, workplace etc. and we would like to get a volume discount. Is that possible?

Yes, contact us at propaganda@brattoo.com and we’ll work something out.